Multi-indorsement mechanism.



G. G. ABBOTT.

MULTI-INDORSEMENT MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1912.

1 ()54 Q75 Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

l I 1 K42 o 33 32 33 3a 2' I .33 v 3 5 22 I9 5mm BY ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. GHARLES c. ABBOTT, or PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, nssrenon To TRIUMPH vo'rme MACHINE COMPANY, or PITTSFIELD, massaonosnrrs, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

' MULTI-INDORSEMEN'I MECHANISM.

; Patented Feb. 25,1913.

' Application filed May 16, 1912. Serial No. 697,668.

, To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, CHARLES .C. ABnor'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsfield, county of Berkshire, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improve-' ment in 'Multi-Indorsement Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an attachment for voting machines, which may be readily applied and removed, for the purposeof reventing more than one vote being cast or a candidate whose name appears on a plurality of party tickets and is an addition to and carrying forward of theinvention described and claimed in my pending application, Serial Number 657,924, filed November 1, 1911.

The invention is limited in its use to a condition in group voting in which the same person has been nominated or indorsed for an ofiice in a group by two or more parties and his name appears on a plurality of party tickets, 5. e. in a plurality of party lines. The term group voting is used in its ordinarysense. For example,- -a plurality of ofiicers are to be elected by a plurality of parties, each of which nominates oneor more candidates. A voter may cast his votes for the nominees of one party or may cast one vote for a nominee 0f a plurality of parties, or may otherwise split up his vote but can only cast as many votes as there are oflices to be filled. If the conditions require a group of three ofiice columns only,

the attachment is made to correspond. If

more ofiice columns are liable to be included, the attachment is made larger. Any attachment may be used for a group of less oflice columns than its maximum, or two at- .40 etachments may be used should conditions require,

In the laws relating to group voting, it is usually required that a candidates name.

shall appear in the group in the order of his nomination. Acandidate might, therefore, be nominated as the first of the group by one party and indorsed as the second, or other member of the group, by another party, which would place that candidates name in two ofiice lines of the group. My present invention provides mechanism supplemental to the mechanism of my said is rendered impossible to'cast two votes for any member of a group, no matter in how former application referred to, by which it many oflice lines his name may appear or in what positionsin the several lines.

In the accompanying drawing forming a partof this specification, Figure 1 is an ele- 1 vation partly broken away, illustrating mynovel mechanism as seen from the front of the machine,the side of the machine which the voter approaches being called the front of the machine, and the voting face the" back; Fig. 2 a sideelevation, as seen from the right in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 in Fig, 1.

10 denotes horizontals of the machine, 11 the shafts of voting members and 14 counter dogs.

The present invention comprises, as in my said former application referred to, a pluby strip sections lying on opposite sides of the locking dogs. The strip sections are made longer-than the distance between two of the voting member shaftswandare pro-v vided neartheir ends with elongated openings 17 through which the shafts pass freely.

At each end of each section on its inner face is a cross piece 18, the ends of which are bent upward and inward to form undercut ways 19. The sides of the sections are beveled backward and inward from their inner faces as at 20, the beveled edges of each section sliding freely in the ways of other sections. In order to make the sections readily separable from each other, the bevels are cut away' on both sides-for a short distance at their mid-length, asat 21, soth'at when two engaged sections are moved inward longitudinally the ways will slide along the bevels until the cut-away portions arereached,

when the sections may be readily separated from each'other as the inner ends of the ways will pass freely over'the cut-away 'portions, but when the. sections are moved outward longitudinally the ways will ride over t e bevels and thus lock the two sections against separation except in the manner just described. Each cross piece has at its mid-length a lug 22, which may be formed by Striking the metal inward, which is adapted to'engage a longitudinal slot 23 in another section, there being a lug at each end of each section and two slots in each ment of the lugs with the ends of the slots.

section adapted to be engaged by the lugs of the contiguous sections, It will of course be obvious that in case 'the separable featurebf the -sections is not re uired, cut-away portions 21 may be omitte and the sections when once secured together remai-nso the limit of longitudinal movement being determined by the engage- The locking dogs 16 are simply elongated plates of metal, rounded at the ends for.

smoothness in operation and are each provided with a non-circular central opening 24 which receives a voting member shaft freely but prevents rotation of thelocking dog thereon. The shafts are shown as grooved on opposite sides and the openings 24 in the locking dogs as corresponding tion for use on a column of voting memvoting ing the voting numbers pertaining to any single candidate), the upper cross pieces of the sections resting upon the locking dogs I 'which are now lying horizontally or apset by 29.

tween plates which are retained in posiproximately so. When an intermediate voting member is not included in an assemblage, no-locking dog is placed on the shaft thereof and the section below is suspended through the engagement of the upper lugon the lower section with the lower end of the lower slot in the section above it, said slot being in practice approximately in alinement with the edge of a locking dog in the horizontal position. The locking dogs and strip sections are retained'loosely upon the votmg member shafts in any suitable manner, as by cotter pins 27. The sections are interchangeable and the entire structure when assembled is of very loose construction but forms a positive lock when avotmg v member is operated and the locking dog thereon is turned to the vertical, or approximately vertical, position. p

The added feature of novelty of the pres ent invention consists of a; wedge system -comprising two rows of oppositely extendmg lnterengaging swinging wedges, pref erably provided with convex operative faces as shown. The wedges of the upper set are indicated byes and the wedges of the lower These wedges are carried betionby spacing rivets 31, the wedges swinging freely between the plates. The set of wedges and the plates by which they are carried form an attachment complete in itself. At the lower ends of the plates are holes 32 which receive the voting member shafts. The plates, and with them the wedges, may be placed upon any line of voting members that may be necessary to meet the requirements of use. The wedges of the lower set swing upon pivots 33 near the lower'edges of the plates and extend upward, and the wedges of the upper set extend downward and are provided with hearing lugs 84 which engage notches '35 int-he upper edges'of the plates, one end of each lug being provided with a hook 36 whichis adapted to engage a slot 23 in one of the sections.

The operation is as follows: The drawing shows portions of four party lines and five. office columns, to three of which multicolumn (from right to left in Fig.1) of the,

first party line is shown as provided with v a locking dog, likewise the voting member shaft in the third office column of the secondparty line, and the voting member shaft in i the fifth office column of the third party line. For convenience in description, one voting member shaft only is shown: in the voted position, to wit: the voting-member shaft in the first party line of the first office column... the voted 'osit-ion'of thelocking-dog being ydotted .lines.- Itis required that a locking dog he placed upon the shaft.

indicated of each voting member corresponding with a candidatewhohas been'nomin'ated or in dorsed by a. plurality of partiesand that strip sections enough be used to provide a section on each side of each locking dog.

zontal' position, as shown, and the voting movement swings them to a vertical or approximately vertical position. The amount of longitudinal movement of the sections The locking dogs normally lie in the horipermitted by lugs 22 and slots 23 is just enough-to permit one looking dog only in an assemblage to be turned to the voting position; a. a. given a quarter turn, more on less. The lockingdogs above an operated locking dog willclosely engage the upper cross pieces of sections, which cannot move upward and the locking dogs below the operated locking dog will closely engage the lower cross pieces of sections which cannot move downward, thus looking all the sections against movement and consequently looking all voting members in the assemblage, that is all voting members in that-- column upon whose shafts locking dogs have been placed.

The operatlon of my novel multi-indorsement strips is set forth more at length in my said former applicationreferred to and one of the upper wedges 28 by engaging the hook on the wedge with'the lower slot 23 in the section. VVhen, therefore, a looking dog is turned to the operated position 1 through the operation of a voting member, the efi'ect willbe to raise all that portion of the multi-indorsement strip which lies below the operated locking dog. The lower section raises the wedge carried thereby from the dotted position shown at the right in Fig. 1 to the full line position. Spacing rivets 31 are provided in position to act asbearings for the end wedges of the system a's'clearly shown. The wedges of the system have just enough play to permit one wedge only to be raised, the entire system.

being locked, i. e. its slaek'all taken out, by the rasing of any wedge. The operation of a voting member therefore takes all the slack out of the corresponding multi-indorsement strip and in addition thereto causes a locking of the Wedge system. The locking of the sections of the strip prevents the possibility of another vote being cast for a candidate in the same oflice column and the locking of the wedge system prevents another vote being cast for him in any ofiice column included in the group.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A multi-indorseme'nt restricting device I comprising two-armed'loclting dogs, for the I ing dog to lock the sections against longitu-' purpose set forth',"astrip consisting of sliding sections lying on opposite sides of the locking dog, each sectlon being provided with means adapted to be engaged by a lockdinal movement, swinging wedges suspended from the lower sections, other swinging wedges inter-engaging therewith, and bearings for the end wedges of the system.

'2. A device of the character described comprising two-armed locking dogs, for the purpose set forth, a strip consisting of sections having limited longitudinal movement and adapted to receive locking dogs between them, cross pieces on the sections adapted to be engaged by the locking dogs, swinging wedges suspended from the lower sections, other swinging wedges interengaging therewith and bearlngs for the end wedges of the purpose set forth, a strip consisting of sections adapted to receive locking dogs beother swinging wedges inter-engaging therewith, and bearings-for the end wedges of the system. 1

5. The combination with voting member shafts, two-armed locking dogs carried thereby, a strip consisting'of sliding sec tions having means for engagement by the locking dogs and means for -connecting the sections leaving them free to-slide longitudinally, of swinging wedges suspended from the lower sections, other swinging wedges interengaging therewith, and'bearings for the endwedges of the system.

6.The combination with a voting membershaft, a multi-indorsement strip com-. prising sliding sections having longitudinal movement and provided with cross pieces at each end, of a locking dog carried by the voting member shaft and adapted to engage the upper and lower cross pieces of lower and upper sections respectively, a swinging wedge suspended from the lower section, other swinging wedges interengagingtherewith and bearings for the endwedges of the system.

7. he combination with a two-armed locking dog and a multi-indorsement strip and engaging longitudinal slots in contiguous sections, of a swinging wedge suspended from the lower section, other swinging.

wedges intjerengaging therewith and bearings for the end wedges of the system.

. 8. In a voting machine, the combination with voting member shafts and two-armed locking dogs carried thereby, of multi-im dorsement strips comprising sliding sections having'mea-ns for engagement by the locking dogs, swinging wedges connected to the lower sections and other swinging Wedges interengaging therewith, whereby the casting of more than one vote for a candidate whose name appears on a plurality of tickets is prevented without regard to the order of nomination on the several tickets.

9. The, combination with a multi-indorsement strip comprising sliding sections and a two-armed locking dog whose ends are adapted to engage upper and lower sections, of a wedge system consisting of oppositely extending interen'gaging swinging wedges, one of which is connected to the ower section of the strip.

10. The combination with a multi-indorsement strip comprising sliding sections, of a wedge system consisting of plates having notches in their upper edges, downwardly extending swinging wedges having lugs engaging the notches, one of said wedges be ing connected to the strip, and upwardly extending interengaging wedges pivoted between said plates.

11. The combination with a multi-indorsement strip comprising sliding sections, of a wedge system consisting of plates having notches in their upper edges, downwardly extending swinging wedges'h'aving lugs engaging the notches, the lugs upon one side forming hooks adapted to engage the strip, and upwardly extending inter-engaging wedges pivoted between the plates.

12. The combination with a multi-indorsen1ent strip comprising sliding sections having lug and slot connections, of a wedge system consisting of plates having notches in their upper edges, downwardly extending swinging wedges having lugs engaging the notches, the lugs upon one side comprising hooks adapted to engage the slot in the lower section of the strip and upwardly extending interengaging wedges pivoted be sisting of plates, downwardly extending loosely engagswinging wedges having in ing the plates and means or engaging the lower sections of the strips, upwardly ex tending inter-engaging wedges ivoted between the plates and hearings or the end wedges of. the system.

14. In a voting machine, the combination with a strip comprising longitudinally movable sections and two-armed lockin dogs whose ends are adapted to engage dlfierent. sections, of oppositely extending inter-emgaging wedges, one of which is connected to the strip.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. CHARLES C. ABBOTT. Witnesses:

A. M. lVoos'rnR, S. W. ATHER'ION. 

